Crude oil prices surge

NEW YORK, Dec. 31 (UPI) -- Crude oil prices soared Wednesday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, although prices closed more than $50 below levels that closed out 2007.

"The path of least resistance appears to be up for now," said Tom Bentz, a broker at BNP Paribas told The Wall Street Journal.

Crude oil prices closed up $5.34 at $45.59 per barrel. Heating oil prices gained 0.1541 cents to $1.4421 per gallon. Reformulated blendstock gasoline rose 0.1767 cents to $1.062 per gallon. Natural gas prices lost 0.237 cents to $5.622 per million British thermal units.

At the pump, the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline was $1.617 Wednesday, up from Tuesday's $1.616 a gallon, AAA said.